elvis:We are buying a house which needs a lot of renovation and are totally confused at which heating system to install, we want a system that keeps the house warm, heats water and whatever else that could benefit, so bills are kept low and the house "system" runs economically. With oil and gas prices rising is electric the best option? Economy 7, storage heaters ect. I have asked other homeowners and their opinions vary! How would it work? Any help would be much appreciated!

What about an ELECTRIC BOILER,these can be set up to run on an economy 10 tariff and used to heat radiatiors, underfloor or a combination of both and to heat hot water. Also silent in operation.

we had lpg gas heating fitted about seven years ago, with a combi boiler, that heats all the hot water constantly,we run eight radiators, the house is lovely and warm,a bit pricey to run,but apart from that, no complaints at all.allso sugest you have cavity wall insulation,i believe you can get a grant for that.no mess no fuss.

Thanks for your help! We feel a bit more in the know now, Thanks

I understand that combi boilers can be run off lpg but I suggest that you speak with a local registered CORGI installer who will give you more specific advice. I am surprised that your big tank only heats 3 radiators so I would be wary of the capital outlay for a new boiler unless your current one is very old and a new one can increase and improve your heating requirments. Again a CORGI installer should be able to give you specific advice on this.
Good luck

Thanks for that, We dont have access to mains gas where we are, will it still be cheaper with a tank?? In the house at the moment there is a big gas tank in the garden which heats about 3 radiators in the house and economy 7 with sorage heaters (i dont know whether the emertion tank is on this!) would it be adviasable to keep both these systems replace gas boiler with combi boiler and reorganize the economy 7?? thanks for your imput!! Very grateful as we no nothing in this department!

The condensing combi boiler is the best way to go. Although gas prices have risen over the last 2 years most experts believe that they will start to fall in the new year. Unless you have a very small property gas central heating remains the best option. 40% of our electricity comes from gas powered stations so electricity prices tend to follow gas.
However you should also make sure that you have the best gas deal available. Check out the Moneysupermarket comparison service for the best deal in your area and recheck every 6 months. Look out for any price falls in the new year.

If you are thinking about solar check out the Energy Savoing Trust website which contains details of all the grants available.

Finally its just as important to adopt as many energy saving measures as possible. There are tips on the home page of trhe Moneysupermarket Gas and Eletric channel as well as the Energy saving trust website.

I had a new condensing combi boiler fitted 10 months ago(aparrently the only type of gas boiler you are allowed to have fitted these days) and noticed quite a saving in gas bills over that period, compared to my ancient back boiler even with the increase in gas prices. I'm also having cavity wall insulation fitted next week so hopefully that should help. I've no experience of economy 7 storage heaters though, sorry.
But, I was considering solar panels and storage heaters before we had the new boiler fitted as there were 50% government grants around at that time - don't know if there still is.
I'm beginning to wish i did with gas prices forever on the up, because even if i had borrowed the money, the loan repayments would have been not much more than my energy bills. Something worth considering maybe although even with the grants you'd be looking at around £8000+.

We are buying a house which needs a lot of renovation and are totally confused at which heating system to install, we want a system that keeps the house warm, heats water and whatever else that could benefit, so bills are kept low and the house "system" runs economically. With oil and gas prices rising is electric the best option? Economy 7, storage heaters ect. I have asked other homeowners and their opinions vary! How would it work? Any help would be much appreciated!